Desiccating apparatus.



c. F. COLEMAN.

DESICCATING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 6. 19:1.

Patented Dec. 8, 1918.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1-.

WITNESSES ATTORNEY C. F. COLEMAN.

DESICCATING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION mu) MAR. 6. I911.

Patented Dec. 3, 1918.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

INVENTOR ATToRN EY C. F. COLEMAN.

DESICCATING APPARATUS. APPLICAUQN FILED Mn. 6. Ian.

Patented Dec. 3, 1918.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3 INVENTOR wlTNess sl I y k ATTORNEY cHAnrns r. coLniuAN, or PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

- nnsIooA'rING ArrAnA'rus.

was.

\ acter wherein is embodied means for treating viscid fluids to the action of steam heated surfaces, in order that the hydric components of the fluid will pass off in a volatile state, leaving a residuum of coagulated or concentrated matter, which is dried, collected and disintegrated by. suitable mechanism for commercial purposes.

A further object is to :position the above mechanism in a vacuum chamber, so that the drying process, to which the substance to be treated is subjected, will be expeditiousl and efficiently carried out, by reason of a owered boiling, oint temperature.

Further objects wil l be in part obvious and in part pointed out hereinafter.

For a further comprehension of the in vention, reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which like characters of reference indicate the same parts, and Wherein- Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view taken .through the evaporating apparatus, constructed in accordance with the principles of the resent invention.

Fig. 2 is a vertica transverse sectional View taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectional view, the plane of which being indicated by theline 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. t is a horizontal sectional view disclosing the complemental drying mechanism.

Fig. 5 is a detail view taken along the line .55 of Fig. 4.

Figs. 6 and 7 are fragmentary detail views.

Referring more particularly to the drawing, my improved evaporating and desiccat- Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dee. 3.,d91l.

Application filed March 6, 1917. Serial No. 152,823.

ing apparatus consists of a housing 1, the latter being formed from any suitable material, and of any desired proportion, which of ,course will be determined by the capacity or output required of the apparatus. The housing usually embodies removable front and rear Walls 2 and 3, stationary side walls 4, and a top and bottom 5 and 6 respectively, said members defining "an internal drying chamber B. The front and rear walls are" removable, in order that the chamber will be readily accessible. One method for securing the walls 2 and 3 in position is to equip the same with bifurcated projections 7, into which are adapted to be "positioned a plurality of pivoted bolts 8, carried by a permanent part of the housing, hand wheels or nuts 9 being threaded upon. the extremities of the bolts, so as to frictionally retain the walls 2 and 3 in operative and secured relation with the associatedparts of the housing and to conveniently permit of their removal therefrom. l[n the preferred embodiment'of the invention, a pipe 10, or its equivalent, communicates with the interior of the housing, said pipe leading from a suitable form of a suction pump (not shown) which when in operation will serve to exhaust whatever air is in the housing, whereby a vacuum or a partial vacuum will be created therein. By producing a vacuum chamber within the housing a distinct advantage is derived, by reason of the fact that .the boiling temperature of the substance acted upon by the apparatus will be considerably lower than when subjected to ordinary atmospheric pressure, thus hastening the general evaporating process. However, it might be advisable to state at this juncture that the use of the vacuum chamberxis only necessary during the desiccation of certain substances, as other materials may be acted upon under ordinary conditions" I with efficient results, and it will therefore in the outer surface thereof. As above stated the belt is preferably made from metal, as the latter material is not likely to be affected by the chemical action of materials deposited thereon, and, as it will be evident, it will permit of the convenient formed in one of the permanent side walls of I the housing, while the opposite end of the drum is provided with a stub shaft 20, retatably mounted in a fixed bearing 21, carried by one of the walls 4. Steam, obtained from any convenient source, is admitted to the'interior of the drum 16 by way of the shaft 18, so that the periphery of the drum will be heated by the eifects of the steam, which will in turn impart heat to the retatable belt. A worm gear 22 is secured upon the shaft 18.exteriorly of the housing, and meshes with 'a similar gear 23, fixed to the drive shaft 24, and it will be apparent that when the latter is revolving, similar movement will be transmitted to the drum and its cooperating belt. The condensation of steam which will collect in the drum 16 may be discharged therefrom in any convenient manner, however, one method by which this can be accomplished is to insert a stationary outlet pipe 25 of relatively small diameter into the shaft 18, and it will be apparent that the pressure imparted by the steam upon the collected water will be sufficient to force the latter out of the drum by way of the outlet pipe 25, as the end of the outlet'pipe is downturned and extends into proximity to the wall of the drum.

The upper drum is preferably mounted in adjustable bearings, in order that the height I of the drum within the housing may be varied to regulate the tension of the belt 15. This adjustable feature includes a fixed shaft 27 extending between the side walls of the housing, and about which are fulerumed arms 28, disposed on opposite ends of the drum 17. Bearings29 are mounted von the arms and in which is journaled a shaft 30 utilized to support for rotation the drum 17. In order to regulate the positions of the arms 28, bolt members 31 have their lower extremities pivotally connected with the outer ends of the arms 28, the upper extremities of said bolts passing through openings formed in the top 5, and are threaded to receive adjusting nuts 32. By regulating the positions of the nuts upon the ends of the bolts 31, the oscillating movement of the drum 17 may be readily cont-rolled.

Interposed between the drums 16 and 17 and bearing upon the inner surface of the belt 15, are a plurality of spaced steamheated casings 35, preferably formed from thin sheet metal and of substantially the same width as the belt. Steam or any other suitable heating fluid is admitted into the casings 35 by way of an entrance pipe 36, extending to one of the permanent walls of the housing, said pipe is branched, so as to enter each of the casings 35 at their upper ends. Steam entering the casings 85 will circulate through the same until condensation occurs and collects upon the bottom of the casing. This collection of. water is removable from the casings by way of an outlet pipe 38. It will be evident that the casings 35 will bear upon the belt 15 upon major surfaces of the latter, and in conjunction with the drum 16 will heat said belt sufiiciently to evaporate the liquid matter adhering to its surfaces.

As one of the several methods for depositing liquid or a semi-liquid substance upon the belt 15, I preferably employ a liquidreceiving trough 40, which is adapted to surround the approximate lower half of the drum 16. The substance to be desiccated is transmitted to the tank 42 by way of a supply pipe 41, extending into the chamber 13 by way of the side wall 4. The liquid is maintained at a predetermined level in the trough by providing the latter with an overflow lip 41 which is positioned above the liquid-receiving tank 42. A pipe 43 leads from the tank to a circulating pump, which forces the liquid of the tank to the trough 40. Thus when the belt 15 is traveling in the direction of the arrow indicated in Fig. 1, it will collect upon its outer surface a certain quantity of the material contained by the trough 40, and will convey the latter toward the heating casings 35, in order that the liquid matter contained thereby will be subjected to a process of evaporation, and to thereby enable its residuum to be collected. A leveling blade 45 is adapted to bear upon the outer surface of the belt 15 at a point immediately above the trough 40, so that the amount of the substance collected by the belt may be regulated before the latter is exposed to the heat of the casings. The relation existing between the blade 45 and the belt 15 may be controlledby suitable screw mechanism 46. It will be evident that the substance carried by the belt will be subjected to the heat of the casings during the major portion of its travel, whereby practically all of the liquid matter contained therein will be evaporated by the heat of the belt.

When the substance is in this semi-moist condition, it is collected from the belt by means of a knife 47, which bears upon the belt at a position substantially contiguous to the drum 16. The substance scraped off of the belt is discharged into a chute 48, and is discharged for further drying into a all] resume supplementl dryer 49, the latter mechanism are preferablyhollow and are filled with steam to suitably heat the surfaces there- A- vertically journaled shaft 53 is of. mounted within the housing 51, and is provided with a beveled gear 54, which meshes with a similargear 55 carried b a driven shaft 56, for eflecting the rotatlon of'the shaft 53. Fixed upon the shaft 53, and r0- tatable over the shelves 52 are a plurality of disintegrating arms 57 and 58. The arms are provided with obliquely extending vanes 59 and 60, carried by the arms 57 and 58 re-' spectively. When thematerial is discharged upon the upper shelf 52 by the chute 48, the same is collected by the revolving arm 57 and is pushed over the'heated surface of said shelf, and is graduallymoved toward the centerof the latter by the obliquity of the vanes 59, so that the substance Will be discharged upon the lower shelf 52 by way of an opening 61 formed in the upper shelf 52. When the material is deposited upon the lower shelf 52 it is again subjected to the revolvin action of one ofthe arms 58,

but in this Instance the material is gradually moved outwardly toward the rim of the shelf 52 by the staggered positions of the vanes upon the arm 58. The movement of the substance upon the shelves 52 will be associated vanes 60,, as stated before, car

rice the substance upon the lower shelf 52 toward the edge of the latter, whence it is discharged into a duct 62 communicating with the upper surface ofthe lower shelf 52. The duct discharges the dried and thoroughly desiccated substance into a conveyer 63, so that the, substance may be discharged from the apparatus for collection. The c011 veyer is rotated by any suitable means, but in this instance a motor 6 1 is employed, havlng a beveled gear 65 fixed to its crank shaft 66.

The gear 65 is adapted to mesh with gears 67 and 68 carried upon a sleeve 69, said sleeve being slidably keyed to the outer end lldll duct 62 will be conveyed toward a substancereceiving receptacle 72, which is removably positioned within a casing 73 depending from the conveyer frame. When the receptacle 72 has been filled to its capacity, a sliding door 74 is positioned above the open end of the same so as to prevent the further entrance of material therein, then the lever 71 is operated to cause the 'conveyer to re volve in a reverse direction, which will carry the substance deposited thereon to a similar receiving receptacle disposed on the opposite end of the conveyer frame. By providing the conveyer reversing means and the sliding door 74, the apparatus may be continuously operated. without disturbing the con- B and C, as will be clearly understood.

I In conclusion, attention is directed to the forced system of liquid circulation for trans mitting fluid to the belt 15. It will be noted fluid is conducted to the tank'42 by means i of the supply pipe 41, leading from any dition of the vacuum within the chambers the flow of fluid through the pipe 11. The

fluid flows from the tank 42 through a pipe 13 to a suitable form of pump81, the latter operating to return the fluid by way of the pipe 82 to the trough 40. k

This construction is exceedingly important as it prevents the precipitation of the fluid within said trough, provides means for forcibly conducting fluid to saidtrough,

and finally permits the fluid to more readily adhere to the belt 15. The latter feature is dueto the fact that if the fluid contained by the trough did not circulate, steam bubbles would be created between the portions of the belt engaging with the drum 16, and the fluid within said trough, this would have the effect of preventing the fluid from properly contacting with the belt. However, by reason of the pump 81, the fluid is continuously circulated, so that the accumulation of the aforesaid steam bubbles will be prevented, thus insuring the unrestricted engagement of the fluid with the belt 15.

l rorn the foregoing it is thought that the advantages and features of the present invention will be readily understood by those versed in theart, and therefore, a more extended explanation with regard to its minor details will be accordingly omitted.

Having described the invention, what is claimed as new and patentable is:

1. A. device of the character described comprising a housing, vertically spaced drums revoluble within said housing, an endless belt trained about said drums, a liquid receptacle below the lower drum whereby said belt may dip therein durin its travel, a pair of spaced vertically exten ingcasings disposed between said drums, inlet and out let pipes communicating with said casing, the outer sides of said casings being convex and bearing outwardly against the inner sides of said belt, and means for tightening said belt whereby it willbe held in frictional engagement With said casing.

2. A device of the character described comprisinga housing, vertically spaced drums revoluble within said housing, an endless belt.trained about said drums, a liquid I receptacle below the lower drum CHARLES F. COLEMAN. 

